Activities In Uganda Research Articles

Combatting Human African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda within a Decentralized Context

International Journal of Medicine and Public Health,2011,1,3,72-76.DOI:10.5530/ijmedph.3.2011.12Published:July/2011Type:Original ArticleCombatting Human African Trypanosomiasis in Uganda within a Decentralized ContextSonia Menon Sonia Menon London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Abstract:While T.b rhodesiense continues to spread from its traditional focus in the South and East, cases of T.b gambiense continue to be recorded in north-western Uganda in the West Nile Region. Of particular worry is that these foci are currently separated by fewer than 150 kilometers, much of which is inhabited by tsetse flies.1 Starkly contrasting with previous ambitious unsuccessful top-down, continent-wide eradication campaigns, Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) control has now shifted from governmental to the individual level. In light of this imminent threat, the centre should remain sufficiently empowered to ensure provision of adequate technical expertise, as well as monitoring and evaluation. A literature review on HAT control activities in Uganda allowed for the identification of research gaps. Keywords:NillView:PDF (236.04 KB)

Contextual environment and stakeholder perception of corporate social responsibility practices in uganda

AbstractThe debate on dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is ongoing. This study was conducted to examine perceptions of stakeholders towards CSR activities in Uganda. The research was prompted by many questions from students undertaking a Business Administration course on the distinction between marketing activities and CSR. While many materials were locally available, none was explicit on stakeholder perceptions. The study used a cross‐sectional qualitative research design. Data was obtained from 119 questionnaires and 88 interviews. The results show that many companies are involved in various CSR activities. Key players were multinationals. The public awareness of CSR is high, but there is confusion as to what it is about. The process of CSR and the influence of contextual environment factors are puzzling. The flagship of CSR through advertisements has resulted in the public perceiving it more as marketing than philanthropy or ethical action. The study provided insights for further research in other contexts. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Seasonality and Industrial Production in Uganda*

Abstract: This paper explores the seasonal dimension of industrial production activity in Uganda using monthly data covering the period 1987 to 2000. Unit root tests and structural time series modelling are used to ascertain the nature of the seasonal component. The evidence in support of stochastic seasonality is not found to be overwhelming. In treating the seasonal effects as deterministic we find, in contrast to the existing evidence from industrialized economies, only a small part of the total variation in output is explained by seasonal factors suggesting a greater role for cyclical and random factors. However, there is some casual empirical evidence suggesting that industrial activity is related to weather conditions.

The Babel Effect: Community Linguistic Diversity and Extramarital Sex in Uganda

We examine the association of community linguistic diversity with non-spousal sexual activity in Uganda. We conducted a survey on rates of sexual contact in last 12 months among 1709 respondents age 18-60 living in Uganda in early 2001. Households were selected at random from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2000 household sampling frame listings in 12 districts and 120 clusters. Household listings described the principal language spoken by every household in the cluster. Sexual contact was reported by 26 vs. 13% of unmarried women in multilingual vs. monolingual clusters respectively. Extramarital sexual contact occurred for 29 vs. 16% for married men in multilingual vs. monolingual clusters respectively. These results were robust to multivariate models which included confounders such as urbanity, and cluster distance to market places, cinemas, and transportation. Our results suggest a robust association between residence in a multilinguistic community and higher rates of non-spousal sex.

Evaluation of Growth and Yield of Indian Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus pulmonarius (Fr.) Quél. on Three Agricultural Wastes Supplemented with Cottonseed Hulls (CSH) in Uganda

The main economic activity in Uganda is agriculture, which provides livelihood for over 80% of the country's population. However, the ever rising population on static land resources has led to decline in agricultural productivity. Consequently, there is a decline in household incomes, thus compromising government efforts to fight poverty and food insecurity. To avert this scenario, Ugandan farmers and the Ugandan Government are keen to explore and develop alternative livelihood strategies. Mushroom cultivation offers a viable solution because currently there is a strong demand for mushrooms, locally and internationally. In order to sustain production to meet this demand, improvement of cultivation practices is paramount. Locally, cottonseed hulls (CSH) is the major substrate commonly used for cultivation, especially in urban areas, where most farmers are located. Supply of this substrate is limited as a result of decline in cotton productivity. There is scarcity of the substrate (CSH) mainly because of its multipurpose use in agricultural communities coupled with high costs of transportation from the remote cotton producing areas. Therefore, it became necessary to evaluate other alternative abundant substrates in whole or in combination with CSH in mushroom production. Whole CSH (100%), sawdust, soybean husks, and coffee hulls were supplemented with CSH at rates of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% were the substrate combinations tested. The substrates were separately characterized physically and chemically to determine their nutritional contents and suitability to support mushroom growth. All substrate combinations were pasteurized by steaming for 3 hours and inoculated with Pleurotus pulmonarius. Mycelial colonization rates, mushroom yields, and biological efficiency were determined. Sawdust formulations colonized fastest with the longest cropping cycles, whereas soy-cotton seed (in a ratio of 50:50%) substrate had the highest mushroom yields, amounting to 624.5 g per kg of substrate (weight of substrate computed on an air dry basis) and biological efficiency (BE) of 62.44%. Pure coffee produced the lowest yield of 121.3 g per kg of substrate and a BE of 13.16%. Through the use of such alternative formulations, Ugandan farmers will maximize mushroom production by use of substrates abundant in their localities. In addition, the amount of CSH used in mushroom production will decrease, offsetting transportation costs and the possibility of pest and disease transmission from one locality to another.

Seed Industry Development and Seed Legislation in Uganda

Agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Uganda and the government's vision is to develop a profitable, competitive, sustainable and dynamic agricultural and agro-industrial sector. To achieve this requires that the majority smallholder farmers access yield-enhancing technologies. Seed is regarded as a crucial input since it is the basic means of technology transfer to farmers.Policy development for research and seed production and control is put in a historical context, showing the need to regularly update policies, institutions and laws in order to meet the requirements of the changing conditions. Smallholder focus through stimulating participatory plant breeding and stimulating private investment in the formal seed sector need to be included. Furthermore, the composition of policy making and implementing bodies changed, and regulations were adapted with a focus on regional harmonisation.Seed policies, laws and regulations will need to be reviewed again to accommodate new trends in the industry such as GMOs, genetic conservation, and biosafety. A suitable regulatory framework is crucial in strengthening the seed industry. And a successful seed industry will be instrumental in the government's drive to modernise agriculture in Uganda.

Missionary Teachers as Agents of Colonialism: A Study of Their Activities in Uganda, 1877-1925

Missionary Teachers as Agents of Colonialism: A Study of Their Activities in Uganda, 1877-1925

Civil society and the political economy of foreign aid in Uganda

The interface between the extension of foreign political aid, the growth of civil society and political and economic development in Uganda presents interesting dilemmas in terms of theory and praxis. This article examines the phenomenal expansion of civil society activity in Uganda ‐ barely a decade ago considered the ‘sick man’ of Africa. It argues that while such a development is welcome, it must be considered in particular against the backdrop of open political activity crystallized in the operation of President Yoweri Museveni's ‘no‐party’ National Resistance Movement (NRM) government. The implications of the considerable support extended by the foreign donor community to an experiment with questionable democratic content are examined, along with the nature and character of sectors of civil society and the relationship (particularly in the context of a country like Uganda) of civil society to political society.

Community financing of health care in Africa: an evaluation of the Bamako initiative.

The Bamako Initiative, a controversial attempt to strengthen Primary Health Care using community financing and community participation and management was launched at a meeting of African Ministers of Health in 1987. This evaluation focuses particularly on the community financing aspects of the Initiative. Previous experiences of community financing highlight particular lessons for the development of the Initiative and issues likely to be encountered in implementation attempts. Four country case studies of the Initiative at its early stages of implementation (in June, July and August 1991) were conducted in Burundi, Guinea, Kenya, and Nigeria. Similar activities in Uganda were also studied. These were short studies of one month each and utilised methods of rapid evaluation. The studies aimed to direct implementers quickly to issues requiring attention rather than to reach overall conclusions regarding the success of the Initiative which would be premature at this stage. Price structures used by the Initiative need to consider the access of marginalised groups more than is the case at present. In addition, there is a need to ensure against over-prescription and commercialisation and to ensure that incentives for utilising most appropriate levels of care are maintained. The evidence suggests that most people do find amounts of money to pay for health services which are large in relation to their income. This is probably a tribute to extensive community support mechanisms. Nevertheless, it highlights the plight of those who fall through this safety net for whom even charges for very basic care may be prohibitive. On the other hand, it appears that in most cases, the Initiative's activities provide a service which is cheaper when all costs to the household are taken into account, than was available before. The quality of services included in the Initiative's activities in the five countries was highly variable. Success in raising substantial revenues has also been mixed. In some countries however, substantial funds have been generated and used to achieve real improvements in health services. Overall, the experiences of the five countries appear to have been highly dependent on a number of 'environmental' characteristics: a tradition or not of 'free' services; the adequacy of current resource availability and that immediately preceding the introduction of the Initiative; the existing stage and nature of decentralisation within the country; and the competition the Initiative's activities face with alternatives.

Erosion-surfaces, tectonics and volcanic activity in Uganda

The historical development of the erosion-surface nomenclature previously used in Uganda is reviewed briefly. Several surfaces are defined, or re-defined, and together with their component physiographic units are described and given local names referring to areas in eastern and central Uganda. For eastern Uganda the sub-volcanic (broadly early Miocene) topography is reconstructed in detail and its subsequent modification is described. In central Uganda two major erosion-surfaces are recognized. Post-formational amendments to these former landscapes are discussed in relation to the present drainage-pattern and to tectonic deformation associated with the development of the Lake Albert-Edward graben. The stratigraphical-geomorphological history of the Western Rift south of the Murchison Falls is summarized. Sequences of events in the formation of the present landscape are outlined for eastern, central and western Uganda, and extrapolation is made from the eastern region into adjacent areas of Kenya. Some recasting of established sequences is suggested. It is concluded that insufficient attention has been paid previously to the local physiographic setting (often dominated by the form of the sub-volcanic landscape) controlling the stratigraphical relations and lithology of the fossiliferous Miocene volcanic and other sediments. The extent of late Tertiary and Quaternary tectonic deformation of erosion-surfaces has in the past been underestimated.

The Impact of Man on Semi-Desert Vegetation in the Sudan

Problems relating to the influence of man and his animals on vegetation have received the attention of many workers. The effects of burning and grazing by cattle and sheep have been studied by many authors in Britain and other European countries, as well as in North America and Thomas (1945) gave a general account of the influence of human activities in Uganda. In all these studies, the destruction of vegetation by burning or felling was followed by recolonization within a relatively short period. The effect of grazing was mainly to tip the balance in favour of those species which were little relished or totally rejected by animals, or those which, though palatable, could regenerate quickly by vegetative means, thus recovering lost ground. Grazing may favour the growth of some species through curtailing their serious competitors which-would otherwise become tall and overshadow them. The above studies, including those in Uganda, were all carried out under mo-re humid climates than obtain in arid northern Sudan. The amount and distribution of rainfall is such that grazed plants will regenerate naturally, provided, of course, they possess the potential ability to do so. In arid regions on the other hand, the dry climate which prevails throughout the greater part of the year does not allow the regeneration of plants once they are grazed or cut, even though the species in question may be endowed with the power of regeneration under a more humid climate. In thi's region north of Khartoum, man's chief activity is animal grazing and wood and grass cutting, no shifting cultivation or annual burning being practised. In order to study man's influence on semi-desert vegetation, a 2220 acre (898 ha) enclosure belonging to the Sudan Forest Department was chosen, quantitative